meteorology for pilots pt 1

the atmosphere is the

envelope of gasses surrounding a planet

what gasses make up the atmosphere

nitrogen, oxygen, and true gasses

what are the percents of the gasses that make up the atmosphere

78% nitrogen, 21%oxygen, and 1% true gasses

the atmosphere is ______ relative to Earth

thin

is there an absolute layer to the atmoshere

no

99.9% of the atmoshere exists within _______nm of Earth

27

the layers of the atmosphere are grouped by

temp

what are the layers of the atmosphere called from upper to lower

exosphere, thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere, and troposphere

what are the two sections of the upper atmosphere

exosphere and thermosphere

what are the sections.of the middle atmosphere

mesosphere and stratosphere

what is the lowest section of the atmosphere called

troposphere

how far is the exosphere above earths surface

640 to 64,000km (400, 40,000mi)

in the exosphere the air

dwindles into nothing

the thermosphere is where

temperature rises

how far is the thermosphere from the earth

80 to 640km (50 to 400mi)

in the thermosphere air is thin but the particles absorb

solar radiation

in the thermosphere the temp can get to

230c (440f)

in the thermosphere the average temperature is

skewed

what are the two things that the thermosphere contains

the ionosphere and magnetosphere

the ionosphere contains_______ that can_______

electrically charged particles, interfere with radio broadcasts

the _________ in the magnetosphere are affected by _________

charged particles, Earths magnetic field

the right conditions in the magnetosphere can create the

northern and southern lights

the mesosphere is where

shooting stars blaze

how far is the mesosphere from the Earths surface

50 to 80km (31 to 50mi)

in the mesosphere temperature decreases with

altitude

what is the lowest temperature the top layer of the mesosphere can go

-90c (-130f)

the stratosphere is where the

protective ozone layer floats

how far is the stratosphere from the Earths surface

16 to 50km (10 to31mi)

where does the concentration of the ozone layer peak in the strastosphere

22km (14mi)

what percent of the molecules in the atmosphere are in the stratosphere

20

the stratosphere gets warmer as you

get away from earth

how many feet is the upper boundary of the stratosphere

160,000

what direction does air move in the stratosphere

laterally

the troposphere is where

weather forms

the troposphere goes up to

16km (10mi)

the troposphere takes up _____% of the atmosphere

75

the troposphere has significant____ movement

vertical

in the troposphere temperature decreases with______

altitude

what is the upper boundary of the troposphere called

tropopause

how many feet is the tropopause

36,000

within the atmosphere pressure decreases_____ at first then very gradually_______ at higher levels

rapidly, decreases

pressure creates physiological factors such as

hypoxia

the dewpoint is the point at which

the air becomes saturated

when fog is created the air reaches

100% humidity and cannot hold any more moisture

dew point changes as

pressure changed

cooling air to below dewpoint will cause _______ to form

visible moisture

relative humidity is the

percentage of moisture in the air

sublimation is

solid to vapor

melting is

solid to liquid

freezing is

liquid to solid

evaporation is

liquid to vapor

condensation is

vapor to liquid

deposition

vapor to solid

traveling away from a solids is

absorbing heat

traveling towards solid is

releasing hit

water vapor is the _____ phase, it is _______ and it forms from _______

gaseous, invisible, evaporation

clouds, dew, or fog is the _____ phase it is _______ and it forms from_____

liquid, visible, condensation

ice clouds, freezing fog, and frost is the_______ phase, it is ________cand it forms from

solid, visible, deposition

international standard atmosphere (ISA) is the

idealized version of the atmosphere

the international standard atmosphere is used in

aerospace applications

the international standard atmosphere model is used to

determine altitude from pressure altitmeters

the standard atmosphere is most representative of

mid attitude models

the standard temperature in the standard atmosphere is

15c (59f) at sea level and decreases 2c per 1,000 ft

the standard pressure in the standard atmosphere is

22.92 inches of mercury (1013.25hPa or mb) and decreases 1in per 1,000 ft

all weather processes are a result of

unequal heating of Earth’s surface

every weather process is because of more or less ________ or ______

sunlight, difference in composition

every physical process of weather is due to

heat exchange

high

center of high pressure

low

center of low pressure

trough

elongated area of low pressure

ridge

elongated area of high pressure

isobar

line of equal pressure

pressure gradient is

the amount of pressure change over geographic distance

closer isobars mean

higher pressure gradient

Coriolis effect is

the deflection of moving objects/air cause by rotating Earth

Earth rotates from

east to west

does earth rotate clockwise or counterclockwise

counterclockwise

what is the pressure gradient

when high pressure moves towards low pressure

the Coriolis effects says that objects move

to the right from whichever direction you are facing

high pressure air is ______ so it moves _______

crowded, outward

low pressure air moves

inward

in the northern hemisphere high pressure moves

clockwise

in the Northern hemisphere low pressure moves

counterclockwise

in the southern hemisphere high pressure moves

counterclockwise

in the southern hemisphere low pressure moves

clockwise

atmospheric stability is the measure of

the atmospheres tendency to encourage or resist vertical motion

atmospheric stability restrics

vertical movement of air parcels

atmospheric instability is

conductive to vertical movement

atmospheric instability causes air parcels to move

upward

atmospheric stability causes air parcels to move

downward

neutral atmospheric stability causes air parcels to

stay put

the dry adiabatic process is when

unsaturated air heats or cools enough to read the dew point

adiabatic compression is when

air sinks and atmospheric pressure increases which compresses and heats up the air parcel

adiabatic cooling is when

air rises and atmospheric pressure decreases which expands and cools down the air parcel

dry adiabatic lapse rate is

the temperature of the unsaturated air parcel that is rising or falling

what is the dry adiabatic lapse rate

3c per 1,000ft

standard lapse rate is

the temperature of the standard atmosphere as altitude increases or decreases

what is the standard lapse rate

2c per 1,000ft

the convergence rate is

the temperature at which temperature and dewpoint converge